


inside-out umbrella

by a_slumbering_hime (nap_princess)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Crack, F/M, Humour, Juvia my Queen, Modern AU, University AU, fics based on my real life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 13:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17602061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nap_princess/pseuds/a_slumbering_hime
Summary: "Are you lost?" asks the very,very,insanely hotstranger.Juvia can only try not to faint– Gruvia, university AUGRUVIA WEEK 2018





	1. Chapter 1

**inside-out umbrella**

* * *

**chapter one**

* * *

Tragedy stuck Juvia like a flipped inside-out umbrella on a hurricane of a day.

She felt lost.

No, like  _legit_. Juvia Lockser was very,  _very_ ,  **very**  lost.

She was sweaty and exhausted and her feet hurt. like. hell.

Granted, Juvia wasn't stuck in a dangerous situation or in the creepy woods or whatever. She was somewhere in town in broad daylight, cars were passing her and birds were happily chirping. She was totally safe, but, she was also _very_ lost and that was a problem itself.

Standing on her tippy-toes and turning her head, Juvia desperately tries to spot Erza Scarlet in the empty-ish sidewalk but it's a no-go. Juvia can't spot her redhead friend or Erza's bright teal backpack; something that Juvia has been using to point the redhead along the journey until she lost sight of it.

Okay, so a little background knowledge. It's almost the end of second semester. The girls are in second year so their grades  **actually**  count, unlike first year. Second year is when everything is forty percent for their degree. And since it's almost the end of second semester, everything is due – essays and grand club activities and voting for the student committee or whatever. Everyone's busy busy  _busy_ and losing their heads from all the activities happening.

Setting the scene; Erza Scarlet and Juvia Lockser were on the essay spectrum, both having like three essays due on the same fucking week, while Lucy Heartfilia and Levy McGarden had Dance Club rehearsals for their upcoming big show which so happened to be taking place today.

And it was all fine and mediocrely-dandy until this conversation happened.

"Remember, Juvia," Erza rambles, typing away on her own essay. "The doors open at five forty-five and, Lucy's and Levy's dance show starts at six PM, we have to get there early because it might take a while for the staff to go through the ticket line. Who knows what rascals might try to sneak into the show, you never know. The building their dance is at is a little farther away than normal so it'll take us longer to get there. Make sure you're done editing your essay in about five minutes or so."

"Hmm, sure." Juvia hums, not entirely paying attention to Erza's words. She's on a roll, okay? Just a few more words then she can be done with this bullshit essay and move on to her two other bullshit essays.

"What time is it?" Erza asks.

Juvia stops writing her essay for a moment to glance at the time at the right-side corner of her laptop. "Six o'four PM."

There's a pause then Erza asks slowly, "Could you repeat that?"

"Juvia said, it's six o'four PM."

"Six?!" Erza says, sounding panicked. Her brown eyes slide to the clock pinned on the kitchen wall. "But the clock says it's five, not six!"

"Our clocks got set ahead yesterday, remember? Daylight savings." Juvia mumbles, she only knows that because Levy had told them in their group chat and it was one of the few things Juvia remembers reading before falling asleep.

Erza sucks in a gasp … then she shrieks so loud she almost sounded like a banshee, "FUCK, we're late!"

This, of course, causes Juvia to almost have a heart attack. "Wha– What does Erza-san mean?" Juvia asks, staring at Erza straight in the eye. She's pretty sure she had accidentally typed 'sdohfnsf' into her  _Microsoft Document_  out of panic.

Juvia's not embarrassed to say she had put all her reliance on Erza. After Lucy and Levy had told their housemate to buy their Dance Society tickets, Juvia did just that then went back on her merry way of writing her essay. She didn't bother to look at the time or place of the show. She just knew it was on a Sunday and that was good enough.

"Juvia," Erza says, she sounded so shocked that she was basically out of breath. It was now six o'five. " _Juvia_ , we were supposed to be there an hour ago. Haven't you been listening to me? The show started five minutes ago and we're still at home! We're late!"

"What?!" Now Juvia's shrieking too.

"Get dressed, we have to go NOW!" Erza yells and basically started stripping as she raced up the stairs to get to her room.

So that was how Erza and Juvia spent three minutes hurrying to save their  _Word Documents_ , getting dressed out of their pajamas despite it being evening o'clock and putting on some shoes.

Walking to town takes at least twenty minutes and another fifteen minutes to get to the PHEONIX building somewhere on the outskirts of the center of town. So basically, they were going to be an hour and thirty-five minutes late.

And, no, they weren't going to take a bus. There was no point and no time to take the damn thing. Ever since living off campus, the girls have been doing everything in their power to avoid spending money on things they don't need. You know, independent and leg-day every day by walking everywhere. It wasn't like it was a hassle job anyways, the house was conveniently twenty minutes away from both their campus and town, which were on opposite ends of the road.

Plus, there were only two bus stops the girls could access. One bus stop was on campus which was an up-hill battle to get there. No, literally, it was positioned on a hill. The girls already had to walk up the damn thing every day on weekdays so going up a hill on weekends was out of the question. The other bus stop closes to them was located in front of a Church near the town so it was useless taking one anyways. It was a better idea to just run and pray they get there in time.

So now Juvia was here, super lost and super confused and super, super, super late. This was the consequence of relying on Erza for everything. The first flaw was that Juvia didn't know what time the show started. The second flaw was that she didn't know where the building was and the damn area.

At first, things started alright. It was all good, Erza's bright teal bag was something Juvia could follow easy until Erza disappeared out of Juvia's field of vision, leaving her a choice to either go straight or turn a corner.

Juvia curses a storm in her head. Damn her asthma and inability to run. And also  _Google_   _Maps_  for being a major bitch. Never trust  _Google Maps_ , it doesn't do shit! She wanted to find the PHEONIX building in Fiore and it gave her directions to the one in Balsam!  _Balsam_! That was a three day walk from here!

She was breathing so hard that she could see her fucking breathe and it was Spring!

Looking around like the obvious lost lamb she was, Juvia tried everything in her power to find Erza and her bright teal backpack. If Juvia wasn't so in a rush she would have taken the moment to admire the blooming flowers and pretty architecture.

It felt like she was in those stupid follow-me games where an MPC asks you to follow them only to fucking sprint away leaving the MC alone to walk at a snail's pace.

 _Where are you, Erza-san?!_ Juvia thinks as turns her body in a 360 circle, clutching her phone hard. All she sees is cars, old buildings and  **no Erza**!

Maybe if she could have put her phone away and look less like an easy target for robbery, Juvia would have felt safer but because girl jeans have fake pockets (FAKE POCKETS) ninety-seven percent of the time, Juvia couldn't put anything in her pockets and had to carry her phone and keys by hand. She was just lucky her phone case had those card holder things if not she would have been screwed.

"Excuse me?" Someone asks.

Juvia practically jumps out of her skin. Her doe eyes widened and she contemplated on using her phone as a weapon as she whips around and faces whoever's talking to her.

"Are you lost?" The man asks.

"Umm ..." Juvia breathes, nervous and still out of breath from all the running. Her blue eyes stare at the stranger in return.

Juvia immediately notices three things about him. (1) Whoa, the dude was hot AF, (2) It should be criminal that he could pull off those sweatpants while going on a run and (3) He had a little cat dressed in a pink frog costume on a leash.

(Cats likes walks?)

"... Yes?" Juvia answers with uncertainty.

And if anyone's asks, it wasn't his looks that made her spill to a complete stranger, okay? It was his stupidly cute dog-cat thing (that matched his stupidly cute owner).

She asks him, trying not to stare into his dark eyes too much. "Can you help Juvia, please?"

The stranger raises a brow. "Who's Juvia?"

Curse her weird third point of view speech. She's given her identity to somebody she doesn't even know and will probably never meet again.

"Me ..." Juvia answers.

"Cool, I'm Gray and this is Fro." Gray says, gesturing to his cat. Well, it was actually Frosch but everyone has baby names for their pets. Gray then extends his hand to give her a handshake but Juvia practically flips out when he sees his hands move in her direction.

It's logical okay? She doesn't know this dude! Kidnapping happens in broad daylight too!

Seeing her jumpiness, Gray offers a warm smile and instead, retracts his hand. "I see you're in a hurry I live around here so I may know where you're heading."

"T – Thanks." She shutters. "Do you know where the PHEONIX building is?"

Gray makes a face in return. "Uh, you just passed it."

 _Shit_ , she knew she should have turned that corner!

"If you go back, I'm sure you'll see it. It's dull looking but it's big and has PHEONIX etched on the side, which, I think is why you missed it."

"Thank you again, Gray ..." Juvia trails off, thinking of which honorific to use "... -sama."

"Sama?" Gray echoes, sounding almost shocked that anyone would think so highly of him.

Juvia only nods. Eh, he did save her from distress so why not? "Anyways," – Good-bye kind hot stranger, it was nice basking in your presence – "Juvia should go, so thank you again, Gray-sama."

"Yeah, sure."

"Good-bye! Thanks again!" Juvia repeats for what seemed like the third time. With that, Juvia turns her heel and speed walks down the way she came. She hopes to God Erza noticed she was missing.

With an amused grin slapped on his face, Gray can only watch Juvia's figure grow smaller and smaller as her cursing fades as she hurries away.

* * *

Gray Fullbuster pulls on his cat's leash but Frosch  _won't_  budge, sniffing on leaves or whatever. Gray sighs, "Fro – Frosch, buddy, let's go."

The cat only lets out a meow and start a pawing a white object in the grown.

"What is it, boy?" Gray asks. He was pretty sure he sounded like a madman talking to his cat. He kneels and immediately notices someone's dropped a card. And when he picks it up, he notices it's a student ID.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes
> 
> Based on my unorganized life except I didn't get the luxury to meet a hot guy interested in me when I got lost like the dumb bitch I am – and it turns out, I was actually still early! I just spent an hour reading my textbook, making notes for my essay and eating Kit Kats after I found the building.
> 
> I mean, I met one cute guy and I moved because there was one seat next to him but his friends jump seats so he ended up sitting two seats away from me. Like, what the fuck? I didn't have to move seats! I don't even get the luxury to sit next to a cute guy?
> 
> – 1 April 2018


	2. Chapter 2

**inside-out umbrella**

* * *

**chapter two**

* * *

Juvia Lockser lets out a loud sad groan as her feet drags around the campus grounds.

It seems like another tragedy has struck her – she's lost her student ID (which is a big thing when you're a student). Juvia thinks she probably lost it somewhere in town while she and Erza were running to the PHEONIX BUILDING. This happened all because she had no pockets and because  _Google Maps_  kept causing her to do 360 circles and skitter back and forth like an  _idiot_.

That hectic day just seemed to have dragged on for forever. Juvia was just lucky that the dance show allowed her to enter; only needing proof via her online ticket that was sent to her e-mail instead of something ridiculous pass, like needing her to show her student ID.

"Cheer up, Ju-Ju!" Levy McGarden quips, an encouraging smile on her small face. Everything about the bookworm of a girl was small except her big brown eyes and high spirit.

Lucy Heartfilia bumps her hips against Juvia's to jolt some energy back into Juvia's lethargic steps. "Yeah, Juvia, don't be so down. It's not like we'll leave you stranded without your student card. Especially after the library updated itself with that nonsense of students needing their IDs to enter the damn place. We'll help you. We'll do anything to help."

On Juvia's left, Levy nods. Both the small girl and Lucy felt incredibly guilty that Juvia had lost her card on the way to their dance show.

"Juvia knows, but …" Juvia trails off and sighs, not bothering to finish her words.

Yeah, it's true, Levy, Lucy and Erza could help Juvia access the library and get student discounts when she needs to drown her sorrows and tears in coffee. But, still, Juvia wants to be able to hold her own ID in her hands. She needs that shit for the exam and to borrow books for her essays and a bunch of other things.

Levy and Lucy continues their little spirit lifting gig as they followed Juvia to their destination. Stepping into the REGISTRATION BUILDING on campus, Juvia was ready to talk to the lady behind the front desk and go through the hassle of making a new card when a voice greets her.

"Juvia, greet timing!"

Suffering from a mini-heart attack, Juvia swore her heart jumped to her throat when she realized who she was staring at.  _Oh my God_ , it was hot cat-weirdo man! What the fuck was he doing in  _this_  building?  _On campus,_ in this matter? Did he go here?! He better not! Did she mention he was hot?!

"Gray-sama?" Juvia gaps as Levy and Lucy share looks behind her. "What is Gray-sama doing here?"

"Oh, Juvia, you dropped this so ..." He says and takes something out of his wallet before holding it infront of Juvia and her friends.

It's her student ID!

Juvia screams internally.  _Holy fuck_ , she looked horrendous in her student ID! It's almost as bad as a tagged  _Facebook_  photo! Why does he have that?

Heck, why did he decide it was a good idea to come all the way to her university and give it back?

Scratching the back of his neck, Gray continues his words, "I was actually on the way to a lecture but then I thought I should at least drop by the building and hand them your ID. You know, hope for the best, thinking maybe they'd return it to you but then you showed up so I guess it was good timing."

Pretending she wasn't internally screaming, Juvia steps forward and plucks the ID card quickly out of Gray's hand. "Thank you!" Juvia says, trying not to sound as forceful as she knew she was making it out to be.

Gray smiles back, "You're welcome –"

"Do you go here?" Juvia blurts out before Gray can even finish his words.

He blinks at her. "What?"

"Do you go here?" Juvia repeats herself. "Like, study here."

"Oh," Gray replies, his face brightening. "Yeah, I study architecture!"

'Shit, why?!' Juvia wanted to say, but instead what comes out of her mouth is, "That's awesome!" She's such a fucking liar, see, this is why bad shit happens to her! Then Juvia swears she dug herself into a hole when she mutters, "Juvia guesses she'll see Gray-sama around, huh?"

WHY DID SHE SAY THAT?!

"Yeah," He smiles at her.

Fortunately, luck was on Juvia's side this time because the conversation was short-lived. Just as quick as their first encounter with each other. If not, even quicker.

Glancing briefly at his watch, Gray offers the trio an apologetic smile and says, "Sorry, I gotta go. My lecture starts in eight minutes and I still have to long way to walk, wouldn't want to be late."

"Oh, it's no problem! Juvia completely understands!" Juvia answers, her voice too damn pitched.

"I'll see you around, Juvia." Gray says then waves at Juvia and her friends as he exits the building.

"Um, yeah, bye." Juvia fumbles over her words, feeling her knees turning to jelly. She even had a weird laugh tickling at the back of her throat. Gosh, she sounded like a giggling school girl!

Then he's gone.

And Lucy and Levy practically tackles Juvia in front of the desk lady.

"Who was that?" Lucy asks first, her grip on Juvia's arm hard like steel.

"N – No one!" Juvia says.

"Don't keep secrets from us, Ju-Ju! Sharing is caring!" Levy says, her own small hands wrapped around Juvia's other arm.

Juvia cracks under pressure. "Juvia just met him on the way to Lucy-san's and Levy-san's dance show. This is honestly the second time Juvia has talked to Gray-sama."

"So, does that mean you won't be seeing him around anymore?" Lucy questions.

"Uh …" That was a hard question to answer. "Maybe?"

Laughing nervously while trying to ignore Lucy's and Levy's stares, Juvia pretends that everything's okay. Campus was  _huge_. There was no way that she'd meet Gray again. Bumping into him at the REGISTRATION OFFICE was just life trying to be nice to her after losing her student ID. She can't possibly see him again, right? Right?! Up? Down? Horizontal ? ? ?

WRONG!

* * *

A good month passes after that 'eventful' encounter. And Juvia can honestly say she completely forgot about tall, dark and handsome Gray Fullbuster thanks to all her essays and deadlines. It's not to say that she wasn't grateful for Gray's help, but student life takes over sometimes and things get swept under the rug.

* * *

The back of Juvia's ankle was bleeding.

You know the kind, when a new shoe is bought and there's blisters and blood everywhere because the shoe isn't broken into yet. Except her shoes weren't new and Juvia was wearing socks. Maybe it was a cut beforehand or friction or bad luck. Juvia didn't know how she got hurt. Juvia wasn't sure.

All she knew was that she had been betrayed by her favourite pair of boots.

So here Juvia was, in the library at nine PM. She just wants to get things over with. Return her book then go home and patch her aching ankle. She's minding her own business, standing between a couple of bookshelves, when a noise catches her attention through the music booming through her earphones.

"– via!"

Again, she was at the  _fucking_  library where people would glare at your for even sneezing.

"Ju —"

Was someone calling her?

"Juvia!"

The person in question turns around only to be met with a handsome face.

Juvia stutters, "G – Gray-sama, hi!"

Did he have shout her name and draw attention to her like that? She doesn't exactly look her best –

"You look like you've lost your mind." Gray says to her.

 _Yeah_ , Juvia was well aware of that. On the inside, Juvia cringed. Of course, she looks like she's just lost her mind. She fell asleep with wet hair, rolled out of bed literally twenty minutes ago then hiked up that damn hill in a onesie to return a stupid book. She pretty much looked like an award newborn duck waddling up that slope.

On the outside though, Juvia just smiles through it.

"What are you doing here?" Gray asks.

Still smiling, Juvia answers, "Returning a book. Juvia just submitted an essay yesterday. She took a rest day today and almost forgot that the book was due at midnight. So, here she is …"

Yeah, she's trailing off because she doesn't exactly sound all that interesting. At university, there's only a handful of things that can be talked about – embarrassing events that occur during drunken parties, the suffering that comes with essays, lectures and seminars, and new shows that's every student's guilty pleasure.

And currently, she didn't even know what course Gray was taking so she couldn't moan about the amount of essay writing that came flooding in.

"Same, I just woke up like half an hour ago and came to write my essay. It's due tomorrow." Gray explains, making Juvia stare at him.

Juvia eyes him, "You slept in jeans?"

Gray shrugs. "Didn't mean to, it just happened."

"Ah,"

What the actual heck? How come Gray looks like hot in general after rolling out of bed and Juvia just looks like a hot mess in general? That's not fair.

"Got anymore essays due?" Gray asks.

Juvia nods. "Two more."

"Good luck with that." Gray grins then raises a hand.

… Huh? Oh! He's high-five-ing her good luck.

"Bye!" He says then turns away to leave.

Ugh, what was with all these quick encounters? Oh, whatever! Juvia stood there waving at him, eyeing his departure ... then turned around and ripped her shoe off. That ankle wound has been killing and she'll be damned if it's bigger than a penny –

"Oh, Juvia, by the way –"

Juvia froze as Gray peeked at her between the bookshelves. Oh Gosh, is he only destined to see her at her worst? Juvia was shocked (Shook? Shooketh? She hasn't really been keeping up with her memes as a university student and quite frankly, she's too afraid to ask).

"Holy shit, you're bleeding!" Gray observes. Wow, thank you, you beautiful son of a bitch!

"Umm," Juvia hums. "How bad is it?" God, why did she ask that? Now he has to look at her ugly, bloodied ankle!

Gray cocks his head, dark eyes concentrating. If only Gray could look at her face with that intensity as he is with her wounded ankle. He tells her, "It looks pretty bad."

Well,  _shit._

"I'll get you a plaster," He continues.

What? No! Don't get involved! Abort!  _ABORT!_  She only came to the library to return a book. She'll be back home in twenty minutes tops if she leaves in a few.

Juvia shakes her head. She just wants to leave leave  _leave_. "No, it's okay. Juvia's about to leave."

"Let me at least walk you to the door?" Gray offers. Boy,  _why?_

"Look, Juvia's just going to return her book then go home after this. It's nothing." Juvia shutters, shoving her foot back into her shoe.

"I'm leaving too, it's no big deal. Just let me walk with you." Gray says, not backing down.

Why is he such a gentleman? Wait, no, that's the wrong question to ask. The real question is: didn't he just arrive like five minutes ago? Why would he come to the library for no reason then leave with her? That made no sense.

Juvia shakes her head once again, "That's real nice of Gray-sama but he doesn't have to –"

"It's just the door, Juvia. I just want to see how bad your foot is."

Just the door?

Juvia pauses, it's like, less than a minute of walking besides Gray. Surely she can fake that she's fine then leave. She already looks like a hot mess. What else could she lose?

Juvia answers unsurely, "… Sure,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes
> 
> Based on another true event. See, in my mind, I looked hot in my onesie. Just not the 'hot' I had in mind – hot mess lol.
> 
> Why did I start writing about my life again? The last time I did that, I hated the fic despite people liking it. I ended up deleting it and moving it to my other account to kinda die (though I need to update one more chapter)
> 
> Y'all are saying I'm a 'good writer' but we all know you're just reviewing cause I'm making you laugh. I put more passion into my angst fics but usually people just fav and follow to tell me they've read my stuff then run away (I feel so taunted when this happens). Anyways the rare who do review, I will remember you.
> 
> – 22 April 2018


	3. Chapter 3

**inside-out umbrella**

* * *

**chapter three**

* * *

Juvia Lockser had walked this path many times,  _too many times_. But never like this. And before anyone questions it, this isn't some metaphorical 'path', it's the literal foot path she takes to and fro university and her home. Up and down a hill, a twenty minute walk – never skip leg day, kids.

And she says she's never walked 'this kind of path' because she's never walked back home so late in the dark. She's always back before dinner. But this time, this fucking time, she had to return a Goddamn text book that was due at midnight and of course (OF COURSE), she had to become a victim of getting mugged. Because, why the hell not?

"Give me all your money!" Some guy in a hoodie yells, gesturing menacingly with his hand for Juvia to hand over her wallet.

Juvia can do nothing but stare. She's so tired and embarrassed from bumping into Hot-Damn-Gray-Fullbuster looking like a hot mess. What is this bullshit? Does this man not see she's dressed in a onesie with wet hair and chafing boots? She just – she just  **couldn'** t believe her ears! Juvia does not look like a student, she looks like a disaster hobo with a limp because of her stupid ankle wound. Is she honestly getting mugged?

Juvia responses, feeling one hundred and seven percent done, "What money? I'm a university student, everyone's broke!"

"Don't be funny with me, girlie!" The man shouts, now pulling something out of his pocket.

And for one moment, fear registers in Juvia's head. All the tiredness from writing her essays flies out the window and she's suddenly jolted with energy at the realization that this dude means business. Reality bitch slaps Juvia.  _Oh man_ , she could actually die. And she's in no condition to run up the stupid hill.

"Juvia –" She backtracks, not wanting to give the man her name. "I really have no money."

The man steps forward, one step too many for Juvia's liking, until a miracle happens – someone yells, "Duck!" then something goes flying and hits the man square in the face. Juvia actually cringes at the sound but doesn't have time to react, a hand grabs her own shaking ones then pulls her to safety; which was unfortunately  _up_  the hill (seriously, kids, don't skip leg day).

Juvia takes off without even thinking who her saviour is, not caring who's leading her. But then the sight of familiar black scruffy hair makes her feel like both ascending into the seventh heaven and melting into the ground.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia gasps. "What are you doing here?!"

"I got worried about you then I saw that hooded figure guy!" Gray explains, booking it.

Her mind is reeling, thinking,  _Gray-sama is holding Juvia's hand! Holy shit!_ repeated about a hundred times over before Juvia remembers it's her cue to speak, "So Gray-sama just decided to just throw his bag at the mugger man?"

"Well, I couldn't just let him hurt you!"

"What about Gray-sama's stuff?" Juvia asks. She's pretty sure she didn't hear the sound of anything breaking but the 'thunk' of Gray's backpack hulk smashing the guy's face did sound like something heavy was inside Gray's bag.

"Don't worry, I didn't bring my laptop, but I only had some library books in my bag!" Gray says and flashes a handsome smile.

Okay, Juvia thinks she's really died and gone to heaven. Juvia's only spoken to Gray like three times in her life but this is the third time he's saved her (giving her directions and passing her ID back wasn't as serious as escaping getting knifed but it was still pretty close at the moment). She could marry him right now and have his children, with his consent, of course.

But then Gray says, "I hope he didn't take them, textbooks are expensive!"

And suddenly Juvia remembers that she's poor and can't raise all twelve of the kids she's just made up and named in her head.  _Darn_ , Gray Junior was her favourite child next to their first daughter, Cerulean Periwinkle Sky (don't question her naming skills. If someone can name their son 'Gray', after a colour with one letter being off, then Juvia can name her imaginary child three different shades of blue, okay?). But, anyway, she couldn't even give the mugger any money, how is she going to raise children? What is going on in her brain?

"Juvia's sorry about that!" She apologises, still running behind Gray.

"It's okay," Gray says.

And Juvia sucks in the pain of her sore ankle. She knows she's hobbling like a cranky witch woman while Gray is running like a majestic elf prince.  _You've felt more pain and bled more than this!_ Juvia tells herself as she pushes through and continues fleeing.

They rush up the path towards campus, with Gray  _still_ holding onto Juvia's hand, until they see their saviour – a security man!

The guy had a somewhat round belly, a bald head under a cap and glasses. You know, like how most security guards look. Gray hopes he never grows into a security guard, not that there's anything wrong with being a security guard, Gray just likes his full head of hair.

"Hey!" Gray yells, huffing and puffing.

The security man turns around and looks at the two in alarm. Not that Gray and Juvia can blame the guy, they probably look like maniacs, charging straight towards him. Plus, Juvia looked like a hobo. Now, she looks worst with all the sweating and running. Probably.  _Definitely_.

"My friend here almost got mugged!" Gray says. "The guy was wearing a hoodie, there was no one else around the area so you can't miss him!"

"Where?" The guard asks, jumping into action.

"Down the footpath,"

The guard nods, takes out his walkie talkie and talks into it. All this goes down while Juvia tries to slow down her heartbeat and pretend it isn't from Gray's fingers still intertwined with hers. I mean, she did just escape a dangerous man and ran up a hill.

The guard whips out his flashlight then says, "I'll head towards the spot now and try to catch the suspect. Stay safe."

"Can you see if he took my backpack too? It has properly from the uni in there." Gray says. "They're textbooks from the library."

Once again, the guard nods and goes down the way Gray and Juvia had emerged. The two teens watch in silence until the guard's dark blue uniform merges into the night. And then they just stood there, not knowing what to do or where to head.

Juvia stares and stares and stares. The fact that they were just standing out in the open like ducks being hunted made Juvia squirm a little. She was uneasy and felt defenseless. Without thinking, she steps a little closer to Gray.

"Does Gray-sama think he'll catch the mugger?" Juvia asks after a moment.

"Maybe." Gray chews on his bottom lip, making Juvia stare at his handsome face. "Hopefully." Then he asks, staring straight into her eyes (and possibly her soul). "Are you okay? How's your foot?"

"Erm," Juvia looks down at her shoes, suddenly not able to look at Gray. A blush crawls up her neck and then her cheeks. "It still hurt."

"I really should get you a band-aid."

He's too kind.

"Juvia's fine. It's just a scratch." _That's the size of a penny._

But …

"Juvia's scared to walk home now." She speaks up, truthful and not wanting the conversation to end. Seriously, what does she do now? She  _would_  take a taxi home but she really didn't bring anything useful with her except her student ID to get into the library (which miraculously didn't fall out of her pocket during the run). Gosh, what is it with walkways and disasters? It feels like those dumb things are connecting Gray to Juvia a lot.

"Do you … want to sit down and get something warm to drink? Calm down, you know?" Gray asks.

"Juvia … Juvia doesn't have any money with her."  _God_ , she felt so pathetic saying that. She's so unlucky!

Gray looks at her, something Juvia wishes he didn't do, then pats his pockets and sighs in relief. "I've – I've still got mine. I didn't put my wallet in my backpack. I can pay."

"But, Gray-sama already saved Juvia – trice."

"Trice?" He looks at her stunned like he's forgotten all the good deeds he's done for her. How does a person like Gray exist? "No? I've only saved you once."

Shaking her head, Juvia insists, "No, trice. Gray-sama's helped Juvia so much. She should be paying for Gray-sama's coffee or something."

"It's fine." Gray replies, speaking so casually then turns and leads them up the hill again, hands still joint.

Juvia thinks Gray was probably leading them back to the library where the vending machines still worked to feed students pulling all nightery. Well, the security guard did tell them to stay safe. And what safer place then on campus?

Regardless, her big eyes fly back and forth between his grip on her pale, pale fingers and his broad back until she decides to speak up. "Um … Juvia's hand …?" Juvia says.

"Hmm, what – oh!" Gray looks back at her before his dark eyes fluttery to look at their hands. Once again, he's all casual and lets go like it wasn't a big deal. "Sorry, I forgot."

_How can you? Juvia's palms are so sweaty!_  Juvia screams internally but outwardly only offers a smile.

"It's okay." Juvia answers.

Well, with these types of weird scenarios, it seems like she'll never escape Gray Fullbuster. She owes him four times now – for the directions, returning her student ID, saving her from that awful mugger and now coffee! It takes a whole minute of silent walking and a lot of courage to work up, but eventually, Juvia asks as they enter the brightly lit campus.

"Um, Gray-sama?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Oh, no problem."

"And uh," Juvia's eyebrows furrow, suddenly feeling shy as she stares at the ground again and jams her hands into her pockets, they're still warm from Gray's body heat. "Juvia would like to pay Gray-sama back for his kindness."

Gray blinks, thinking for a moment, then says, "Alright then, coffee, maybe? Or a light lunch? We can meet at the library café or something if it doesn't bother you too much."

"Juvia wouldn't mind that." Oh, now he's got her all hopeful and breathless.

"Hmm," Gray hums, looking ahead. "And you can use my phone later to call a taxi, I don't mind paying too, or maybe tell your housemates, if they can get you."

Geez, how sweet can this guy get?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes
> 
> God, I miss writing humour. I saw one of my fav authors update after YEARS of being on hiatus and I just felt like updating too. It's a shit chapter but whatever.
> 
> – 6 September 2018


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